Adlerpresentsthe background ofeach work, then analyzes the work to bring out its relation to the life, then relates its critical and public reception. It shows how events or situations in Duras's life inspiredcertain literarythemes. The presentation ofthe most productive years ofDuras's life, found in chapters V and VI, interweaves accounts ofMarguerite's personal life, political andjournalistic activity, and literary work.
Inthe treatmentofthemuch-discussedperiod ofthe war years, Adler consulted the record ofthe trial ofCharles Delval, model for Rabier inLa Douleur, and many interviews to establish a distinction between Marguerite and her fictional heroine Thérèse. Strong points ofthe treatment of Duras's early life include new information on Duras's parents and an interview with a relative ofthe Chinese lover, bringing assurance ofthe lover's existence. Her research modes includedtraveltoplaceswhereDuras lived, even Vietnam consultation ofstate and otherarchives numerous interviews with persons who knew Duras personally or professionally, and with Duras herself and consultation ofMarguerite's private papers, now housed in the Institut de lamémoire de l'édition contemporaine (IMEC) in Paris, and made available to Adler by Duras's son, Jean Mascólo. Adler, a historian, has done far more research than previous biographers. Laure Adler's biography, published in September, 1998 by Gallimard, brings us into a new era in the consideration ofDuras's life and its relation to her works.
However, the interviews are numerous and difficultto find, especially for an American scholar. A scholar dissatisfied with such works could attempt to assemble all existing interviews ofor by Duras, as well as her overtly autobiographical works, and assemble a view ofherlife fromthem. Earlierbiographies eitherwere completely undocumented orrelied almost entirely onDuras's fictional works, naivelytaking Duras's heroines forDuras herself. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ģ5o Women inFrenchStudies Book Review Agnes Porter Beaudry Inthepast, thosewho wishedto learn aboutMarguerite Duras's life couldturnto biographies whose author either identified too closely with Duras or handled facts carelessly.